B747 production coming to an end?
10-24-2013, 03:39 PM
#1
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B747 production coming to an end?
Boeing's 747 Is an Icon, but Future Is in Doubt - ABC News
Boeing's 747 Is an Icon, but Future Is in Doubt
October 24, 2013 (AP)
By JOSHUA FREED and SCOTT MAYEROWITZ AP Business Writers
For decades, the Boeing 747 was the Queen of the Skies. But the glamorous double-decker jumbo jet that revolutionized air travel and shrunk the globe could be nearing the end of the line.
Boeing has cut its production target twice in six months. Just 18 will be produced in each of the next two years. Some brand-new 747s go into storage as soon as they leave the plant. Counting cancellations, it hadn't sold a single 747 this year until Korean Air bought five on Thursday.
Boeing says it's committed to the 747, and sees a market for it in regions like Asia. But most airlines simply don't want big, four-engine planes anymore. They prefer newer two-engine jets that fly the same distance while burning less fuel.
"We had four engines when jet engine technology wasn't advanced," Delta Air Lines Inc. CEO Richard Anderson said at a recent conference. "Now jet engines are amazing, amazing machines and you only need two of them."
Delta inherited 16 747s when it bought Northwest Airlines in 2008. Northwest last ordered a 747 in 2001, according to Flightglobal's Ascend Online Fleets.
SEATS TO FILL
Part of the problem is all those seats. A 747 can seat from 380 to 560 people, depending on how an airline sets it up. A full one is a moneymaker. But an airline that can't fill all the seats has to spread the cost of 63,000 gallons of jet fuel — roughly $200,000 — among fewer passengers.
They're also too big for most markets. There aren't enough passengers who want to fly each day between Atlanta and Paris, for example, to justify several jumbo jet flights. And business travelers want more than one flight to choose from. So airlines fly smaller planes several times a day instead.
"No one wants the extra capacity" that comes with jumbo jets like the 747 and the Airbus A380, said Teal Group aviation consultant Richard Aboulafia.
THE GAME CHANGER
The 747 once stood alone, with more seats than any other jet and a range of 6,000 miles, longer than any other plane.
The plane was massive: six stories tall and longer than the distance the Wright Brothers traveled on their first flight.
On the early planes, the distinctive bulbous upper deck was a lounge, so it had just six windows. The plane epitomized the modern age of international jet travel.
"Everyone on the flight was dressed up," recalls passenger Thomas Lee, who was 17 when he took the inaugural passenger flight on Pan Am from New York to London in 1970. "After all, it was still back in the day when the romance of flight was alive and thriving."
International travel was mostly limited to those who could afford the pricy flights. The 747 changed that. The first 747s could seat twice as many passengers as the preferred international jet of the time, the Boeing 707. Long flights became more economical for the airlines. Ticket prices fell and soon a summer vacation in Europe was no longer just for the wealthy.
The plane's profile was enhanced by its role as Air Force One and by flying the space shuttle — piggyback — across the country. The 747 became the world's most recognizable aircraft.
Boeing began building 747s in the late 1960s. Production peaked at 122 in 1990. Overall, Boeing sold a total of 1,418 747s before redesigning the plane in 2011. The 747's success helped put Boeing ahead of U.S. competitors Lockheed, which left the passenger jet business in 1983, and McDonnell Douglas, which Boeing acquired in 1997.
But technology eventually caught up with the 747.
Boeing's 747 Is an Icon, but Future Is in Doubt
October 24, 2013 (AP)
By JOSHUA FREED and SCOTT MAYEROWITZ AP Business Writers
For decades, the Boeing 747 was the Queen of the Skies. But the glamorous double-decker jumbo jet that revolutionized air travel and shrunk the globe could be nearing the end of the line.
Boeing has cut its production target twice in six months. Just 18 will be produced in each of the next two years. Some brand-new 747s go into storage as soon as they leave the plant. Counting cancellations, it hadn't sold a single 747 this year until Korean Air bought five on Thursday.
Boeing says it's committed to the 747, and sees a market for it in regions like Asia. But most airlines simply don't want big, four-engine planes anymore. They prefer newer two-engine jets that fly the same distance while burning less fuel.
"We had four engines when jet engine technology wasn't advanced," Delta Air Lines Inc. CEO Richard Anderson said at a recent conference. "Now jet engines are amazing, amazing machines and you only need two of them."
Delta inherited 16 747s when it bought Northwest Airlines in 2008. Northwest last ordered a 747 in 2001, according to Flightglobal's Ascend Online Fleets.
SEATS TO FILL
Part of the problem is all those seats. A 747 can seat from 380 to 560 people, depending on how an airline sets it up. A full one is a moneymaker. But an airline that can't fill all the seats has to spread the cost of 63,000 gallons of jet fuel — roughly $200,000 — among fewer passengers.
They're also too big for most markets. There aren't enough passengers who want to fly each day between Atlanta and Paris, for example, to justify several jumbo jet flights. And business travelers want more than one flight to choose from. So airlines fly smaller planes several times a day instead.
"No one wants the extra capacity" that comes with jumbo jets like the 747 and the Airbus A380, said Teal Group aviation consultant Richard Aboulafia.
THE GAME CHANGER
The 747 once stood alone, with more seats than any other jet and a range of 6,000 miles, longer than any other plane.
The plane was massive: six stories tall and longer than the distance the Wright Brothers traveled on their first flight.
On the early planes, the distinctive bulbous upper deck was a lounge, so it had just six windows. The plane epitomized the modern age of international jet travel.
"Everyone on the flight was dressed up," recalls passenger Thomas Lee, who was 17 when he took the inaugural passenger flight on Pan Am from New York to London in 1970. "After all, it was still back in the day when the romance of flight was alive and thriving."
International travel was mostly limited to those who could afford the pricy flights. The 747 changed that. The first 747s could seat twice as many passengers as the preferred international jet of the time, the Boeing 707. Long flights became more economical for the airlines. Ticket prices fell and soon a summer vacation in Europe was no longer just for the wealthy.
The plane's profile was enhanced by its role as Air Force One and by flying the space shuttle — piggyback — across the country. The 747 became the world's most recognizable aircraft.
Boeing began building 747s in the late 1960s. Production peaked at 122 in 1990. Overall, Boeing sold a total of 1,418 747s before redesigning the plane in 2011. The 747's success helped put Boeing ahead of U.S. competitors Lockheed, which left the passenger jet business in 1983, and McDonnell Douglas, which Boeing acquired in 1997.
But technology eventually caught up with the 747.
10-24-2013, 09:45 PM
#2
Disinterested Third Party
Joined APC: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,302
Delta inherited 16 747s when it bought Northwest Airlines in 2008.
Only two of them were in passenger configuration; the others were freighters. The two in passenger configuration had ended their service lives as troop transports, and when I picked up the airplanes from storage, troops had written notes to the company and the flight attendants on the seat backs and on all the pull down window shades. The airplane was autographed throughout by troops on their way home. Kind of neat.
I was given the flight manual to take home as a sort of souvineer, and I grabbed a pax briefing card and a blanket from the overhead bin, because it was all getting tossed. Schmaltzy stuff, but little momentos along the way.
10-24-2013, 10:23 PM
#3
Old P-3 IFE
Joined APC: Aug 2005
Position: B744 FO
Posts: 290
And then put them in storage at Marana. I flew them out when they were purchased and put back into service with a different carrier.
Only two of them were in passenger configuration; the others were freighters. The two in passenger configuration had ended their service lives as troop transports, and when I picked up the airplanes from storage, troops had written notes to the company and the flight attendants on the seat backs and on all the pull down window shades. The airplane was autographed throughout by troops on their way home. Kind of neat.
I was given the flight manual to take home as a sort of souvineer, and I grabbed a pax briefing card and a blanket from the overhead bin, because it was all getting tossed. Schmaltzy stuff, but little momentos along the way.
Only two of them were in passenger configuration; the others were freighters. The two in passenger configuration had ended their service lives as troop transports, and when I picked up the airplanes from storage, troops had written notes to the company and the flight attendants on the seat backs and on all the pull down window shades. The airplane was autographed throughout by troops on their way home. Kind of neat.
I was given the flight manual to take home as a sort of souvineer, and I grabbed a pax briefing card and a blanket from the overhead bin, because it was all getting tossed. Schmaltzy stuff, but little momentos along the way.
10-24-2013, 10:52 PM
#4
Da Hudge
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Poodle Whisperer
Posts: 17,473
And then put them in storage at Marana. I flew them out when they were purchased and put back into service with a different carrier.
Only two of them were in passenger configuration; the others were freighters. The two in passenger configuration had ended their service lives as troop transports, and when I picked up the airplanes from storage, troops had written notes to the company and the flight attendants on the seat backs and on all the pull down window shades. The airplane was autographed throughout by troops on their way home. Kind of neat.
I was given the flight manual to take home as a sort of souvineer, and I grabbed a pax briefing card and a blanket from the overhead bin, because it was all getting tossed. Schmaltzy stuff, but little momentos along the way.
Only two of them were in passenger configuration; the others were freighters. The two in passenger configuration had ended their service lives as troop transports, and when I picked up the airplanes from storage, troops had written notes to the company and the flight attendants on the seat backs and on all the pull down window shades. The airplane was autographed throughout by troops on their way home. Kind of neat.
I was given the flight manual to take home as a sort of souvineer, and I grabbed a pax briefing card and a blanket from the overhead bin, because it was all getting tossed. Schmaltzy stuff, but little momentos along the way.
It's ironic they mentioned ATL-CDG in the article as a route you don't put a whale on... An AF 744 operated that route today.
10-25-2013, 07:55 AM
#8
Working weekends
Joined APC: Jul 2005
Position: Left Seat
Posts: 2,384
There are a couple flying right now.
Delta (DL) #172 Flight Tracker ? FlightAware
Delta (DL) #630 Flight Tracker ? FlightAware
Delta (DL) #172 Flight Tracker ? FlightAware
Delta (DL) #630 Flight Tracker ? FlightAware
10-25-2013, 08:13 AM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2007
Position: A320 captain
Posts: 209
No one can offer more than speculation to this question, but If they hadn't invested in the development of the 800 would they have taken an equal number of 400 orders?
Have there been any pax configured orders or deliveries?
Have there been any pax configured orders or deliveries?
10-25-2013, 08:36 AM
#10
Working weekends
Joined APC: Jul 2005
Position: Left Seat
Posts: 2,384
Boeing clearing has the "freight" market, aka 747 all series, 777, 757
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